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Tikunei Zohar, tikun 21 p. 57b; translated with commentary
by Moshe Miller
Purim is so-called because of Yom HaKipurim [the Day of
Atonement - but literally translated, "the day like Purim"] because in the
Future we will delight in that day [the Day of Atonement] and transform it from
[a day of] affliction to [a day of] delight [just like Purim]... And just as on
that day he [the High Priest] adorns himself with the garments of atonement [the
four white garments signifying the aspect of chesed] so too, regarding
Esther it is written, "...and she donned her royal garb" (Esther 5:1). Just as
with these [white garments, the High Priest] enters the innermost sanctuary
[where he attains atonement for the Jewish People], so too, "[Esther] stood in
the inner courtyard of the king [dressed in her royal garb]" (ibid.) and "she
found favor in his eyes."
Now, what caused the Shechina to become afflicted
with exile?  | | " Just as the Jewish People were exiled...after the Temple was destroyed, so too, the Shechina was exiled...." | | |
Just as the Jewish People were exiled from the Holy Land after
the Temple was destroyed, so too, the Shechina was exiled from its place
in the Temple, as the verse states, "They shall make for Me a Temple, and I will
dwell among them." (Ex. 25:8)
The secret of the matter is [alluded to in the following is
verse in the Megilla]: "So I shall come before the king though it is against the
law" (Esther 4:16), because she came without her husband regarding whom it
states, "from His right hand [signifying chesed] comes a fiery law" [i.e.
Torah] (Deut. 33:2)
The intention here is that the Shechina, regarded as a
"feminine" and gevura element since it is associated with the sefira
of malchut, appears without the "male" counterpart - Zeir Anpin.
For they abandoned the Torah and this caused the destruction
of the First and Second Temples, as the verse states, "And if I perish, I
perish!" (Esther 4:16). | | " She who went in to the king indeed remained a maiden...." | | |
Since the verse states "perish" twice, this is understood to
allude to two destructions - hence the destruction of both Temples. The Talmud
suggests that the reason for the destruction of the Second Temple was because of
baseless hatred.(Yoma 9a) However, one could explain that this too can be
regarded as abandoning Torah, since "what is hateful to you, do not do to others
is the entire Torah. All the rest is commentary" (Shabbat 31a).
Nevertheless, even though she entered without her husband,
i.e. the words of Torah, she still entered with [the merit of the three]
Patriarchs [alluded to in the words, "Do not eat or drink] for three days, night
or day" (ibid.), during which she [also] fasted. They were witnesses that the
maiden went into the king, as the verse states, "And with this the maiden went
in to the king" (ibid. 2:13). She who went in to the king indeed remained a
maiden, for no man knew her other than her husband.
The implication here is two-fold: 1) Esther was a virgin when
she went in to king Achashverosh and remained so (as explained below), for no
other man touched her than Mordechai. 2) The Jewish People also remained
untouched by any other faith. For although "they abandoned the Torah", as
mentioned above, the Talmud (Bava Metiza 85b) explains that this means
that they did not appreciate it sufficiently ( Rashi), or that they did not
cleave to He who gave them the Torah ( Maharal, Tiferet Yisrael, Intro.)
not that they completely abandoned it.
Regarding this it is written, "He reared Hadassah [Esther's
other name] faithfully...." (Esther 2:7) [Mordechai] was faithful to her and she
was faithful to him, and this is what the verse states, "For Esther was faithful
to Mordechai, just as he had faithfully reared her" (ibid. 2:20)...
The Zohar explains that Esther was given the additional name
Esther because it alludes to disguise or concealment - "hester"
in Hebrew, for the Shechina concealed her from Achashverosh and
replaced her with a spirit known as a shaid, while she returned to her
husband Mordechai. (See Zohar III, p. 276a).
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